Comet Nights (HTTYD Fanfic)

Chapter One: The Mysterious Attacker

The wind whistled around Toothless's wings as he spread them, balancing in the air as delicately as a feather. It was as if they had both been born there, Hiccup and Toothless, denizens of the sky, naturals in the airy realm.

"Come on, Toothless? What are you stalling for?" cried Hiccup over the onrush of gales that hummed in his ears.

Toothless just made a sort of 'nyuk nyuk' noise and made no move to change his position, but Hiccup could see a smile on his scaly features.

"Stop it, you big dumb reptile!"

Toothless chuckled and suddenly turned, drawing his wings in tight and making his hover into a breakneck descent. Hiccup laughed and felt adrenalin rush into his veins, awakening a surge of recklessness. He obeyed it and slipped his peg foot into the special holder on his dragon's saddle, locking Toothless's tail mechanism in place, then unbuckled himself and pulled away from the Night Fury.

Toothless shrieked in shock and nearly grabbed his rider, but Hiccup motioned for him to not.

"I've got this!" he screamed, then spread his arms. The membranes between them caught, and suddenly he was no longer falling, but looping up in the sky.

He activated the fin on his back and smiled as his Night Fury righted himself and glided alongside him, his wing almost touching Hiccup's arm.

Together, the chief and his dragon spiraled in the air, dipping and diving and feinting at their leisure. They were the perfect pair, synchronized to flawlessness, mimicking each other almost exactly. There was no communication, at least, no visible movements. It was like the rider and dragon were linked telepathically, communicating with their minds and not their mouths.

Suddenly, another dragon appeared from a cloudbank. Stormfly spiralled around the pair, and on her back was Astrid. She gestured at Hiccup and he duly remounted Toothless to get close to them.

"What is it?" he yelled.

"There's a big monster on Berk!" she cried, raising her voice above the speeding air currents. "A big black dragon going around and killing sheep. It nearly blasted Fishlegs straight to Valhalla! We need your help, since your mom has other jobs to do! Besides, dragons trust you more than anyone."

"All right! I'll see what I can do!" responded Hiccup, and he bid Toothless to take him down to the village.

When Hiccup and Toothless got there, all the vikings were clustered around something in the centre of the village, muttering worriedly between themselves. When their Chief appeared, people began pestering him, pulling at his sleeves and asking him if he would fix it. Hiccup could barely hear any individual sentences, there were so many vikings asking him things. Toothless walked behind, glaring at anyone who got close. He seemed skittish, his pupils kept expanding and retracting randomly. Hiccup wondered at it for a moment, then he saw what was lying in the square.

"Eeew!" he groaned. A pile of gored sheep were on display in the middle of the road, their blood smeared everywhere. Next to it, there was a stool, and a blubbering Fishlegs was being comforted by Valka.

"What happened!" exclaimed Hiccup as he went over to his mother.

"See, I told you. Big monster. Dead sheep. Scared Fishlegs." Astrid appeared and took Hiccup's hand. He spared her a quick smile and returned to looking at Valka.

"From what I can tell, Fishlegs heard scared sheep, so he went in the pasture to see what was wrong. A big black dragon was attacking the animals." Valka gulped. "So Fishlegs went closer. The dragon turned on him and- well, it tried to shoot him with its fire. It missed by a hair. There's even a blast crater. After that, it flew away into the woods."

"Is it dangerous to everyone?"

Astrid snorted. "Hiccup, it tried to kill someone. Of course it's dangerous to the village!"

"There are still dragons who don't like humankind," mused Hiccup's mother. "It's possible that this one flew over from another island. Hiccup, we need you to try to tame it- or at least drive it away. I know Toothless will keep you safe."

Hiccup nodded. "I'll do it. Toothless! Toothless, where are you, bud?"

He found the Night Fury sniffing at the sheep carcasses, his pupils tiny slits.

"What are you doing that for? You don't like sheep!"

Toothless did nothing. In fact, he just stood there, his eyes fixed on the clawmarks in the animal's body, his limbs trembling.

"What's up?" asked Hiccup, mounting his dragon. But as soon as he was securely in the Night Fury's saddle, Toothless took off, bounding out of the village at breakneck speed.

"Toothless! What's going oooon!!!!" screamed Hiccup as his dragon skidded through the trees, moving so fast that his rider had no idea where they were. Then, a tree branch, just above them, heading for them...

Hiccup blacked out.

He woke up in a leafy glade, his head pounding. It took Hiccup a few moments to remember what happened, but the memories came flooding back. He sat up quickly, wondering where they were. A quick look around revealed his location- the same pond where he had met Toothless! In fact, the dragon was right in front of him, staring at something right out of Hiccup's field of vision.

"Toothless? What's happening?"

A rich, throaty growl sounded, and Hiccup gingerly edged his way around a rock, only to behold a black dragon crouched on a rockpile.

Another Night Fury.

And it was here, on Berk!